Tuesday, December 31, 2013

Trans Pacific Partnership:

The Dictatorship of the Multinationals

We have known for a while that
the Obama administration is morbidly secretive.They think nothing of
having their Department Heads appear before Congress to lie blatantly
in order to conceal the National Security Agency's telephone
surveillance program. They think that Congress and the voters should
stay out of government's business.

We should be used to this by
now but the latest example of official secretiveness is nevertheless
very alarming. Over the last so many months, the Obama administration
has been negotiating a treaty known as the Trans Pacific Partnership,
or TPP for short, in complete secrecy. The little anyone else knows
about the proposed treaty has been made available by Wikileaks. No
one knows what is being negotiated. The situation is so bad that even
members of Congress are now demanding that the government inform them
about the negotiations.

“The
TPP agreement is being negotiated — in secret, even from Congress —
between representatives of governments and giant, multinational
corporations. (Government negotiators are not prevented from seeking
lucrative corporate jobs if negotiations are completed in favor of
those corporations.) Groups representing the interests of labor,
environmental, consumer, human rights or other stakeholders in
democracy are not at the negotiating table. And, not surprisingly, it
appears that the agreement will promote the interests of giant,
multinational corporations over the interests of labor,
environmental, consumer, human rights or other stakeholders in
democracy.”(http://ourfuture.org/20130823/congress-
public-waking-up-to-tpp-threat?gclid=CMXMl56-xrsCFYEDOgodHkAA-Q)

The
government responds to such criticisms by asking for "fast track
approval." They want Congress to approve this treaty by a single
up or down vote without debate, without the possibility of
amendments, without letting American citizens know what is being
negotiated and what is being approved and how it will affect our
daily lives. Why this open assault on democratic procedures? What are
they afraid of?

If this treaty were to be open
to discussion and amendment, Congress would have severe hesitations.
The treaty turns out not so much to be about free trade in the Asian
basin,--Australia, Brunei, Canada, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New
Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam are the eleven countries
participating in negotiations on the TPP with the US-- but about
enabling global corporations such as drug companies to make more
money than ever at the expense of their customers. It is a treaty
between global corporations and their closest friend, the US
government.

Here is what little seems to be
known about TPP:

The
TPP proposes to forbid 'parallel importation.'

“An example of “parallel
importation,” as described by the World Health Organization, is as
follows:

'…in
Mozambique 100 units of Bayer’s ciprofloxacin (500mg) costs US$740,
but in India Bayer sells the same drug for US$15 (owing to local
generic competition). Mozambique can import the product from India
without Bayer’s consent…'

In the weeks to come we can
expect more news about the TPP in spite of the government's efforts
to keep the whole thing under wraps. Watch for more information to
come out. Be in touch with your representatives to urge them to
oppose this massive sellout to global corporations.

The multinational
enterprises are planning a serious take-over of democratic
government. The Obama administration is happily participating by
keeping the whole negotiating process secret.